updated 06:50 am EDT, Thu May 31, 2012

Claims company not served correctly and due process rights violated

Megaupload has filed a motion to dismiss all US Government charges, potentially bringing the case to an end. According toTorrent Freak, the legal team for the file repository argues that the US has violated Megaupload's due process rights by destroying the business while not properly serving the company. The motion comes a day after a New Zealand court demanded full disclosure of all evidence held by the US in a case seeking extradition of Kim "Dotcom" Schlitz and other executives.

The Virginia federal court received the motion from the Megaupload legal team, arguing that the US authorities failed to serve the site properly. Claims that the reputation of the site was "ruined" and the business destroyed before the indictment could be seen as a violation of due process rights. Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken noted that since Megaupload is a company and not a person, it cannot be served outside of US jurisdiction, and so Megaupload was never served in the first place. District court Judge Liam O'Grady previously stated that the Megaupload trial may never happen in the first place for similar reasons.

In New Zealand, A request by Megaupload for the US Government to reveal evidence gathered on the defendants fell upon deaf ears, with the US refusing the request on grounds that there is no right to disclosure in the extradition process. The court agreed with Megaupload and has ordered for disclosure of all documents, including those held by the New Zealand police, the FBI, and other US authorities. Judge David Harvey gave the US 21 days to hand over all related documents. The way that the US government wanted the extradition process to run, it would be "in danger of becoming an administrative one rather than judicial," according to the Judge.